September 18, 2022

Late Morning Update:

Ellen Barry of the New York Times: "... organizations linked to the Russian government had assigned teams to the Women's March [of January 2017]. At desks in bland offices in St. Petersburg, using models derived from advertising and public relations, copywriters were testing out social media messages critical of the Women's March movement, adopting the personas of fictional Americans." The article goes into detail about how the trolls operated, particularly on how they attacked one leader of the march movement, Linda Sarsour.

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** David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "... the United States today finds itself in a situation with little historical precedent. American democracy is facing two distinct threats, which together represent the most serious challenge to the country's governing ideals in decades. The first threat is acute: a growing movement inside one of the country's two major parties -- the Republican Party -- to refuse to accept defeat in an election.... The second threat to democracy is chronic but also growing: The power to set government policy is becoming increasingly disconnected from public opinion. The run of recent Supreme Court decisions -- both sweeping and, according to polls, unpopular -- highlight this disconnect.... Senators representing a majority of Americans are often unable to pass bills, partly because of the increasing use of the filibuster. Even the House, intended as the branch of the government that most reflects the popular will, does not always do so, because of the way districts are drawn. 'We are far and away the most countermajoritarian democracy in the world,' said Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University.... '... the Republican Party -- upper level, midlevel and grass roots -- is a party that can only be described as not committed to democracy,' Mr. Levitsky said." Leonhardt goes into the reasons for the crisis. You probably know most of them, but you may not know all of them. A worthwhile read. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The rule of law means that the law treats each of us alike: There is not one rule for friends, another for foes; one rule for the powerful, another for the powerless; a rule for the rich, another for the poor.... [The rule of law] is fragile, it demands constant effort and vigilance. -- Attorney General Merrick Garland, at a naturalization ceremony Saturday ~~~

~~~ Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "An emotional Attorney General Merrick B. Garland addressed new citizens on Saturday at Ellis Island, the site of his family's American origin story, and warned that the country had become dangerously divided by political factionalism, which has imperiled the democracy and the rule of law. Mr. Garland was presiding over the oath of allegiance for 250 naturalized citizens at the iconic immigration processing center, on the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution in 1787. As the new Americans rose to recognize their home countries -- about 60 of them, with origins from Albania to Yemen -- he told them that the United States 'wholeheartedly welcomes you.' During a 10-minute speech in which he repeatedly stopped to collect himself, the attorney general recounted the tale of his grandmother's flight from antisemitism in what is now Belarus before World War II, and the narrow escape to New York made by his wife's mother, who fled Austria after Nazis annexed the country in 1938." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. DeSantis, Stuntman Not Ready for Trump Time. Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: Ron DeSantis' Martha's Vineyard "stunt failed to make its intended point [that liberals don't care about poor people]. The same was true of a previous stunt, in which DeSantis touted the arrests of 20 former felons for election fraud. The intended message was that Florida, and presumably the entire country, needed to be on constant alert to block fraudulent voters. But in the days and weeks after the arrests, an investigation by The Tampa Bay Times found that the state had actually cleared those residents to vote. As far as they knew, they hadn't broken the law. If anything, they had been entrapped as part of a scheme to make DeSantis a more attractive candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.... To a typical person ... he looks a lot like a bully, someone willing to play high-stakes games with people's lives for the sake of his own ego and advancement." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, I heard on the teevee that Fox "News" & other right-wing outlets are characterizing Gov. Charlie Baker's effort to relocate the asylum-seekers at a Cape Cod military facility is evidence that the liberals on Martha Vineyard got rid of the Venezuelans as quickly as they could. Apparently, liberals have to permanently adopt an immigrant family or two to prove they care.

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Mazars USA, the longtime accounting firm for ... Donald J. Trump that cut ties with him and his family business this year, has begun turning over documents related to his financial dealings to Congress. After a yearslong legal fight, the House Oversight Committee has received a first trove of documents from the firm, which recently entered into a legal settlement agreeing to produce a range of financial documents from several years before Mr. Trump took office and during his early presidency. Mazars said in February it could no longer stand behind a decade of annual financial statements it had prepared for the Trump Organization. More tranches of documents are expected to follow."

Jacqueline Alemany & Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told a former White House aide that he was seeking a preemptive pardon from President Donald Trump regarding an investigation in which he is a target, according to testimony given to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Johnny McEntee, according to people familiar with his testimony, told investigators that Gaetz told him during a brief meeting 'that they are launching an investigation into him or that there's an investigation into him,' without specifying who was investigating Gaetz. McEntee added that Gaetz told him 'he did not do anything wrong but they are trying to make his life hell, and you know, if the president could give him a pardon, that would be great.' Gaetz told McEntee that he had asked White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows for a pardon.... [A spokesman for Gaetz wrote in an email,] '... President Trump addressed this malicious rumor more than a year ago stating, "Congressman Matt Gaetz has never asked me for a pardon." Rep. Gaetz continues to stand by President Trump's statement.'"

Mike Masnick of Tech Dirt: "As far as I can tell, in the area the 5th Circuit appeals court has jurisdiction, websites no longer have any 1st Amendment editorial rights. That's the result of what appears to me to be the single dumbest court ruling I've seen in a long, long time.... However, thanks to judge Andy Oldham, internet companies no longer have 1st Amendment rights regarding their editorial decision making.... Without giving any reason or explanation at all, it reinstated the [Texas] law and promised a ruling at some future date. This was procedurally problematic, leading the social media companies (represented by two of their trade groups, NetChoice and CCIA) to ask the Supreme Court to slow things down a bit, which is exactly what the Supreme Court did. Parallel to all of this, Florida had passed a similar law, and again a district court had found it obviously unconstitutional. That, too, was appealed, yet in the 11th Circuit the court rightly agreed with the lower court that the law was (mostly) unconstitutional. That teed things up for Florida to ask the Supreme Court to review the issue.... I wish I had confidence that [the Supremes] would not contradict themselves, but I'm not sure I do.... The future of how the internet works is very much at stake with this one." ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "In addition to being substantively ridiculous, [the Fifth Circuit Court] literally chides the companies for citing Supreme Court precedents that are, you know, fully binding on the court rather than starting with 4Chan historical analysis...["] 'Rather than mount any challenge under the original public meaning of the First Amendment, the Platforms instead focus their attention on Supreme Court doctrine.'... This [opinion] is by no means an outlier for the Fifth Circuit -- it is not a 'court of law' in any meaningful sense."

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "Federal judges voted not to reappoint a New Mexico jurist after an internal investigation showed she subjected employees to insults, outbursts and threats of termination, according to a court order published Wednesday. A court committee that reviewed the allegations said the judge, Carmen E. Garza, created what seemed to be 'an abusive and hostile work environment' in her chambers for more than a decade, behavior that included manipulating staff to undermine fellow judges and courthouse employees, and making 'derogatory and egregious statements' about colleagues. There was also some evidence, the order states, that Garza 'engaged in retaliatory conduct' after the vote against her reappointment.... It was remarkable for court leaders to publicize their preliminary findings and to identify the judge by name.... The judiciary's 30,000 employees lack the same workplace rights afforded to other government and private-sector workers.... Unlike Senate-confirmed District Court judges, magistrates are appointed to eight-year terms."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Sunday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

U.K. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Tens of thousands of people waited up to 24 hours to pay their final respects to Queen Elizabeth II on Saturday, their individual acts of mourning commingling into a vast national expression of bereavement.... With foreign leaders and royalty arriving in London for her funeral on Monday, the endless river of ordinary people was joined by dignitaries from the sovereign's far-flung realms: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia.... The Queue, which snakes across the Thames and winds for miles along the river's south bank to Southwark Park, has quickly become a kind of cultural phenomenon.... At 6 p.m., Prince William and Prince Harry took up positions next to the catafalque to stand vigil over their grandmother, who died on Sept. 8.... The brothers were joined at the catafalque by their six cousins, the children of Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.... The queen's coffin will lie in state at the Palace of Westminster until Monday morning, when it will be carried to Westminster Abbey for the funeral service."

September 17, 2022

Afternoon Update:

** David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "... the United States today finds itself in a situation with little historical precedent. American democracy is facing two distinct threats, which together represent the most serious challenge to the country's governing ideals in decades. The first threat is acute: a growing movement inside one of the country's two major parties -- the Republican Party -- to refuse to accept defeat in an election.... The second threat to democracy is chronic but also growing: The power to set government policy is becoming increasingly disconnected from public opinion. The run of recent Supreme Court decisions -- both sweeping and, according to polls, unpopular -- highlight this disconnect.... Senators representing a majority of Americans are often unable to pass bills, partly because of the increasing use of the filibuster. Even the House, intended as the branch of the government that most reflects the popular will, does not always do so, because of the way districts are drawn. 'We are far and away the most countermajoritarian democracy in the world,' said Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University.... '... the Republican Party -- upper level, midlevel and grass roots -- is a party that can only be described as not committed to democracy,' Mr. Levitsky said." Leonhardt goes into the reasons for the crisis. You probably know most of them, but you may not know all of them. A worthwhile read.

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Although the government believes the district court fundamentally erred in appointing a special master and granting injunctive relief, the government seeks to stay only the portions of the order causing the most serious and immediate harm to the government and the public. -- Defendant's Motion, Donald J. Trump v. United States of America ~~~

~~~ ** Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: "The Justice Department asked an appeals court on Friday to let the F.B.I. regain access to about 100 sensitive documents taken from ... Donald J. Trump's residence in Florida but did not try to block the appointment of an outside arbiter to review other materials. In a 29-page filing, the department asked the appeals court not to submit the roughly 100 files marked as classified through the vetting process of the arbiter, known as a special master -- acquiescing to the review for 11,000 other documents seized from Mr. Trump's home and resort, Mar-a-Lago. The review has frozen the government's access to the material as it investigates Mr. Trump's handling of the documents.... Mr. Trump would suffer no harm if the government reclaimed and examined material that did not belong in his possession anyway, the department added.... The department also rejected Mr. Trump's argument that he could assert executive privilege to block criminal investigators, who are part of the executive branch, from gaining access to the executive branch-owned materials as part of their work." Politico's story is here.

** Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "Months before National Archives officials retrieved hundreds of classified documents in 15 boxes from ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club, they were told that none of the material was sensitive or classified and that Trump had only 12 boxes of 'news clippings,' according to people familiar with the conversations.... During a September 2021 phone call with top Archives lawyer Gary Stern, former deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin ... said he had talked to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who made the assertion about the dozen boxes of clippings, the people familiar with the call said. Trump's team was aware of no other materials, Philbin said, relaying information he said he got from Meadows. The characterization made in the call vastly misrepresented the scale and variety of documents, including classified records, eventually recovered by the Archives or the FBI. Philbin said that Meadows also told him no documents had been destroyed.... Stern had sought the call because he believed there were still more than two dozen boxes of materials that Trump had.... In the year since the call, Archives and Justice Department officials have recovered 42 boxes of records from Trump's Palm Beach, Fla., property.... Some White House advisers had previously said Meadows was deeply involved in the final packing at the White House." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The good news for Marky-Mark is that he will not have to wait for a special-order orange jumpsuit; I think he'll fit right into a prêt-à-porter number. But wait. He's innocent! ~~~

Mr. Meadows did not personally review the boxes at Mar-a-Lago and did not have a role in examining or verifying what was or wasn’t contained within them. -- Ben Williamson, spokesman for Mark Meadows ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump had told advisers a version of what Mr. Meadows is said to have told Mr. Philbin, that the boxes contained news clippings and personal effects, according to people familiar with the events. Aides to Mr. Trump had told others that there were only 12 boxes of material, which is what Mr. Meadows is also said to have relayed to Mr. Philbin.... Mr. Meadows went to Mar-a-Lago and discussed the boxes of material with Mr. Trump during the summer of 2021, as archives officials were trying to get the materials sent to them. Mr. Philbin was trying to facilitate the return while avoiding being drawn further into the dispute...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Haberman & Schmidt are fingering Trump as the instigator of the "12 boxes of news clippings" lie. More importantly, so is Meadows. No doubt Trump will blame some hapless usher or maybe Kash Patel (would serve Patel right) for packing the classified docs. Ergo, the "I declassified them all" lie Trump told Hugh Hewitt the other day will probably be replaced with, "I had no idea there were any classified docs in the boxes." (Uh, "... or in my desk drawer or in my closet.")

Ron Dicker of the Huffington Post:"Hillary Clinton said Thursday that the classified documents ... Donald Trump allegedly hoarded at his home are the kind that required a military escort when she was secretary of state.... Clinton told 'Late Night' host Seth Meyers that when she read top-secret material, an officer 'would come into my office and would have a handcuff that was attached to a suitcase in order to show me something that was so secret he literally had to have it tied to his hand.' The officer would watch Clinton read it and sign that she had reviewed it, and then he would take it back, she recalled. The idea that Trump reportedly squirreled away top-secret information on a foreign government's nuclear capabilities and the like at a country club prompted Clinton to say: 'I don't care what political party you are.... This is a threat to our national security.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Crazier & Crazier. David Klepper & Ali Swenson of the AP: "After winking at QAnon for years, Donald Trump is overtly embracing the baseless conspiracy theory, even as the number of frightening real-world events linked to it grows. On Tuesday, using his Truth Social platform, the Republican former president reposted an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin overlaid with the words 'The Storm is Coming.' In QAnon lore, the 'storm' refers to Trump's final victory, when supposedly he will regain power and his opponents will be tried, and potentially executed, on live television.... He's published dozens of recent Q-related posts, in contrast to 2020, when he claimed that while he didn't know much about QAnon, he couldn't disprove its conspiracy theory.... Trump's recent postings have included images referring to himself as a martyr fighting criminals, psychopaths and the so-called deep state. In one now-deleted post from late August, he reposted a 'q drop,' one of the cryptic message board postings that QAnon supporters claim come from an anonymous government worker with top secret clearance." (Also linked yesterday.)

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post has some thoughts about Mike Lindell, the MyPillow Guy.

Marie: I have no idea whether or not Akhilleus is an eminent immigration lawyer disguised as a Greek warrior in need of a podiatrist, but this comment (in yesterday's thread) sounds good to not-a-lawyer me: "Here's a thought: Section 274(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act makes it a federal crime to knowingly transport undocumented persons across state lines. -- Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott should be immediately arrested." ~~~

~~~ Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "Massachusetts authorities announced Friday that they will move approximately 50 migrants from the island of Martha's Vineyard to a military base in Cape Cod so they can find shelter and chart next steps. The move is voluntary for the migrants, the state said. Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said the migrants will be offered 'shelter and humanitarian supports' in dormitory-style rooms at Joint Base Cape Cod in Bourne. State and local officials will also ensure migrants have food, shelter and other services. Baker said he plans to activate up to 125 members of the Massachusetts National Guard to aid in the relief effort. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) surprised federal and state officials on Wednesday by sending migrants who recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to the affluent resort island.... In a speech at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's annual gala on Thursday night,[President] Biden lashed out at Republicans. 'Instead of working with us on solutions, Republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props,' he said. 'What they're doing is simply wrong, it's un-American, it's reckless.'" The Hill's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's worth noting that a major reason the U.S. has not done a better job of dealing with immigration problems is that Congressional Republicans refuse to participate in realistic solutions. So when heartless Republican governors play games using human beings as pawns in order to curry favor with their racist, xenophobic base, it is heartless Republican members of Congress who have exacerbated the problems these governors think they are so brilliantly highlighting. ~~~

~~~ William Melhado, et al., of the Texas Tribune & Boston Globe: "Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chartered the flights, though his administration did not respond to questions as to why Florida taxpayers paid to transport people from Texas to Massachusetts in a political stunt meant to draw attention to the increasing number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border[.] ~~~

~~~ Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times look at the legal implications of DeSantis' and Abbott's stunts. "Under American law, any migrant has the right to [claim asylum], starting a process ... that ... faces a yearslong backlog, meaning that these migrants ... are living in a state of immigration limbo. It is not illegal for a state government to pay for [their] travel. But if there is evidence the migrants were lied to by state officials about where they were going or what awaited them, as some attorneys have alleged, the migrants could pursue tort suits for fraud or severe emotional distress, according to Heidi Li Feldman, a professor at Georgetown University. Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, the executive director for Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston who is representing some of the migrants sent to Martha's Vineyard, said his clients were denied their constitutional right to due process, since the trip to Massachusetts likely means they will be unable to attend their immigration court appointments in San Antonio, Texas.... While critics have compared the actions of Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Abbott to human trafficking or kidnapping, multiple lawyers cast doubt on the possibility that they could be prosecuted for such crimes because no evidence has surfaced that the migrants boarded the flights or buses unwillingly." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sorry, I don't see how one can argue the people went "willingly" when they were induced to get on the plane under false pretenses. It's still kidnapping, for instance, whether a kidnapper snatches a child off the street or induces her into his car by promising her they'll go to the store & buy her a teddy bear.

Beyond the Beltway

California. Return of the Condor. Alice Li, et al., of the Washington Post: "Once pushed to the brink of extinction, condors are soaring in Northern California skies again with the help of an Indigenous tribe and a team of scientists. Among the world's tallest trees, next to the world's biggest ocean and along the state's longest highway, the largest birds in North America are returning to Northern California after a 130-year absence.... The Northern California Condor Restoration Program, the native Yurok Tribe and government agencies have introduced a program to blend the species back into the natural landscape of the Pacific Northwest over the next two decades.... Researchers say the population declined due to lead poisoning, which was caused by ingesting fragments of lead ammunition in carcasses killed and left by hunters, as well as habitat destruction and poaching.... The Yurok Tribe and government partners drafted a plan to release condors into Redwood National Park. The towering old-growth coastal redwoods provided ample space for them to nest and rest, while the birds could forage in vast open prairies. Consistent winds also help the birds glide for extended periods of time...."

New Hampshire Senate Race. General Chickenshit. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Like a driver making a screeching U-turn, Don Bolduc, [a retired army general and] the Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, pivoted on Thursday from his primary race to the general election, saying he had 'come to the conclusion' that the 2020 presidential election 'was not stolen,' after he had spent more than a year claiming it was.... He continued to falsely claim there had been fraud in the election but acknowledged that the outcome was not in question.... Mr. Bolduc ran on an uncompromising right-wing platform.... [Sen. Maggie] Hassan's [D] campaign responded quickly to Mr. Bolduc's reversal, sharing a series of videos and quotes of the many times Mr. Bolduc had promoted the lie that the 2020 election was stolen.... At least 10 [GOP] candidates in competitive races, including the Senate nominees Blake Masters in Arizona, Adam Laxalt in Nevada and Ted Budd in North Carolina, have updated their websites to downplay endorsements from Mr. Trump or to soften anti-abortion language." (Also linked yesterday.)

New York. Hurubie Meko of the New York Times: "Yeshiva University abruptly announced on Friday that it had placed all undergraduate club activities on hold, the latest maneuver in the legal battle by the Modern Orthodox Jewish institution to keep from recognizing an L.G.B.T.Q. student group. The move came two days after the U.S. Supreme Court had ordered the university to recognize the student group. In a 5 to 4 vote, the justices said the university would first have to make its arguments in New York State courts before returning to the Supreme Court.... The move by Yeshiva 'is a throwback to 50 years ago when the city of Jackson, Mississippi, closed all public swimming pools rather than comply with court orders to desegregate,' [a lawyer for the students] said." MB: Time to protest, kids.

Pennsylvania. David Wildstein of the New Jersey Globe: "New Jersey is serving as an incubator for Republican candidates in Pennsylvania, with two statewide candidates being New Jersey natives and longtime residents. Gubernatorial candidate Douglas Mastriano was a registered voter in New Jersey for 28 years until July 2021 when election officials changed his status to inactive. Records show that Mastriano voted from his family's Hightstown home from 1982, when he turned 18, through the 2010 general election. He remained on the voter rolls until a sample ballot was returned roughly six months after the death of his mother last year. Dr. Mehmet Oz lived and voted in New Jersey until 2021, when he moved to Pennsylvania to seek a U.S. Senate seat. He remains on New Jersey's voter rolls as a resident of Cliffside Park and could legally vote in his home state this November if he chose to not vote in Pennsylvania." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If the name David Wildstein sounds familiar to you, it should. Think, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

Texas. David McCabe of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court on Friday reversed a lower court's order blocking a Texas law that stops large social media platforms from removing political posts, a blow for tech companies that say their content moderation decisions are protected by the Constitution.... The Fifth Circuit ... is known to be conservative.... One member of the three-judge panel dissented from portions of the ruling. The law makes it possible for individuals or the Texas attorney general's office to sue social media platforms with more than 50 million monthly users in the United States for taking down political viewpoints." MB: This sounds like the We Love Trump Law.

Virginia. Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: "In a major rollback of LGBTQ rights, the administration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) will require that transgender students in Virginia access school facilities and programs that match the sex they were assigned at birth and is making it more difficult for students to change their names and genders at school." MB: Again, cruelty is the point.

Wisconsin. A.J. Bayatpour of WKOW Madison: "Speaking at a Republican dinner event in Appleton last week, newly-released audio captured Michael Gableman suggesting revolution was the 'only way to keep government honest.'... Gableman broached the subject of Americans being too comfortable to carry out a rightful revolution.... 'It's that very comfort that is keeping us from what our founders knew to be the only way to keep an honest government, which is revolution,' Gableman said. 'Thomas Jefferson said that the Tree of Liberty must be watered by the blood of revolution every generation.'" MB: Gableman is the wingnut former state supreme court justice whom Wisconsin assembly speaker Robin Vos hired to examine the results of the 2020 presidential election. According to Wikipedia, "Gableman's fourteen month investigation resulted in various unsubstantiated accusations against municipal clerks and members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, but found nothing of substance." Vos fired Gableman as soon as Vos won his primary election.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Saturday are here: "Ukrainian authorities and United Nations monitors are investigating a mass burial site in the eastern city of Izyum. Military and police investigators at the site said there are 445 single graves and at least one mass grave containing 17 bodies. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the bodies show signs of torture and include children.... White House spokesman John Kirby said Friday ... that the United States would continue to help efforts to document war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine to hold alleged Russian perpetrators accountable.... Several pro-Moscow officials in occupied areas of Ukraine were killed Friday, including in shelling or explosions that Russian media reports blamed on Ukrainian forces.... [President] Biden met with [Brittney] Griner's wife and [Paul] Whelan's sister Friday. The White House suggested that negotiations with Russia to release them have not advanced."

Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "Challenged bluntly and publicly by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the war in Ukraine..., Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia would strive to stop the conflict 'as soon as possible.' But then he accused Ukraine of refusing to negotiate, although Putin ordered the invasion and his troops are still occupying a large swath of Ukrainian territory.... In a stunning public rebuke, Modi told Putin: 'Today's era is not an era of war, and I have spoken to you on the phone about this.' The rare reproach showed the 69-year-old Russian strongman coming under extraordinary pressure from all sides. Internationally, he is facing calls to end the war not only from his traditional critics in the West, but also from Asian partners whom he cannot paint as beholden to the U.S." ~~~

~~~ Anton Troianovski, et al., of the New York Times: Taken together, the distancing from Mr. Putin by the heads of the world's two most populous countries [India & China] -- both of which have been pivotal to sustaining Russia's economy in the face of Western sanctions -- punctured the Kremlin's message that Russia was far from a global pariah.... The implicit criticism of Mr. Putin underscored that he now faces perhaps his most challenging moment of recent months, suffering not just these diplomatic setbacks but also retreats on the battlefield and intensifying questions back home over how he has conducted the war. But ... Western officials believe that he could still drastically escalate the intensity of Russia's assault if he is confronted with further defeats. In a news conference Friday after the summit of Asian leaders, Mr. Putin described recent Russian cruise missile attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure as 'warning strikes' that could portend an even more vicious campaign."

U.K. The Guardian's live updates of events surrounding the mourning of Queen Elizabeth II are here: "The King and Prince of Wales are meeting people waiting in the queue for the Queen's lying in state at Westminster Hall. As King Charles III got out of the car along Albert Embankment, he was immediately greeted with cheers.... The King has thanked emergency service staff for their work during the mourning period and ahead of the Queen's funeral on Monday.... The funeral is expected to be 'the largest international event that the UK has hosted in decades, possibly ever', according to sources."

September 16, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

** Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "Months before National Archives officials retrieved hundreds of classified documents in 15 boxes from ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club, they were told that none of the material was sensitive or classified and that Trump had only 12 boxes of 'news clippings,' according to people familiar with the conversations.... During a September 2021 phone call with top Archives lawyer Gary Stern, former deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin ... said he had talked to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who made the assertion about the dozen boxes of clippings, the people familiar with the call said. Trump's team was aware of no other materials, Philbin said, relaying information he said he got from Meadows. The characterization made in the call vastly misrepresented the scale and variety of documents, including classified records, eventually recovered by the Archives or the FBI. Philbin said that Meadows also told him no documents had been destroyed.... Stern had sought the call because he believed there were still more than two dozen boxes of materials that Trump had.... In the year since the call, Archives and Justice Department officials have recovered 42 boxes of records from Trump's Palm Beach, Fla., property.... Some White House advisers had previously said Meadows was deeply involved in the final packing at the White House." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The good news for Marky-Mark is that he will not have to wait for a special-order orange jumpsuit; I think he'll fit right into a prêt-à-porter number.

Marie: I have no idea whether or not Akhilleus is an eminent immigration lawyer disguised as a Greek warrior in need of a podiatrist, but this comment (also below) sounds good to not-a-lawyer me: "Here's a thought: Section 274(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act makes it a federal crime to knowingly transport undocumented persons across state lines. -- Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott should be immediately arrested." ~~~

~~~ Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "Massachusetts authorities announced Friday that they will move approximately 50 migrants from the island of Martha's Vineyard to a military base in Cape Cod so they can find shelter and chart next steps. The move is voluntary for the migrants, the state said. Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said the migrants will be offered 'shelter and humanitarian supports' in dormitory-style rooms at Joint Base Cape Cod in Bourne. State and local officials will also ensure migrants have food, shelter and other services. Baker said he plans to activate up to 125 members of the Massachusetts National Guard to aid in the relief effort. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) surprised federal and state officials on Wednesday by sending migrants who recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to the affluent resort island.... In a speech at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's annual gala on Thursday night, [President] Biden lashed out at Republicans. 'Instead of working with us on solutions, Republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props,' he said. 'What they're doing is simply wrong, it's un-American, it's reckless.'" The Hill's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's worth noting that a major reason the U.S. has not done a better job of dealing with immigration problems is that Congressional Republicans refuse to participate in realistic solutions. So when heartless Republican governors play games using human beings as pawns in order to curry favor with their racist, xenophobic base, it is heartless Republican members of Congress who have exacerbated the problems these governors think they are so brilliantly highlighting.

Crazier & Crazier. David Klepper & Ali Swenson of the AP: "After winking at QAnon for years, Donald Trump is overtly embracing the baseless conspiracy theory, even as the number of frightening real-world events linked to it grows. On Tuesday, using his Truth Social platform, the Republican former president reposted an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin overlaid with the words 'The Storm is Coming.' In QAnon lore, the 'storm' refers to Trump's final victory, when supposedly he will regain power and his opponents will be tried, and potentially executed, on live television.... He's published dozens of recent Q-related posts, in contrast to 2020, when he claimed that while he didn't know much about QAnon, he couldn't disprove its conspiracy theory.... Trump's recent postings have included images referring to himself as a martyr fighting criminals, psychopaths and the so-called deep state. In one now-deleted post from late August, he reposted a 'q drop,' one of the cryptic message board postings that QAnon supporters claim come from an anonymous government worker with top secret clearance."

Ron Dicker of the Huffington Post: ?Hillary Clinton said Thursday that the classified documents ... Donald Trump allegedly hoarded at his home are the kind that required a military escort when she was secretary of state.... Clinton told 'Late Night' host Seth Meyers that when she read top-secret material, an officer 'would come into my office and would have a handcuff that was attached to a suitcase in order to show me something that was so secret he literally had to have it tied to his hand.' The officer would watch Clinton read it and sign that she had reviewed it, and then he would take it back, she recalled. The idea that Trump reportedly squirreled away top-secret information on a foreign government's nuclear capabilities and the like at a country club prompted Clinton to say: 'I don't care what political party you are.... This is a threat to our national security.'"

New Hampshire Senate Race. General Chickenshit. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Like a driver making a screeching U-turn, Don Bolduc, [a retired army general and] the Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, pivoted on Thursday from his primary race to the general election, saying he had 'come to the conclusion' that the 2020 presidential election 'was not stolen,' after he had spent more than a year claiming it was.... He continued to falsely claim there had been fraud in the election but acknowledged that the outcome was not in question.... Mr. Bolduc ran on an uncompromising right-wing platform.... [Sen. Maggie] Hassan's [D] campaign responded quickly to Mr. Bolduc's reversal, sharing a series of videos and quotes of the many times Mr. Bolduc had promoted the lie that the 2020 election was stolen.... At least 10 [GOP] candidates in competitive races, including the Senate nominees Blake Masters in Arizona, Adam Laxalt in Nevada and Ted Budd in North Carolina, have updated their websites to downplay endorsements from Mr. Trump or to soften anti-abortion language." MB: Vote Hassan!

Pennsylvania. David Wildstein of the New Jersey Globe: "New Jersey is serving as an incubator for Republican candidates in Pennsylvania, with two statewide candidates being New Jersey natives and longtime residents. Gubernatorial candidate Douglas Mastriano was a registered voter in New Jersey for 28 years until July 2021 when election officials changed his status to inactive. Records show that Mastriano voted from his family's Hightstown home from 1982, when he turned 18, through the 2010 general election. He remained on the voter rolls until a sample ballot was returned roughly six months after the death of his mother last year. Dr. Mehmet Oz lived and voted in New Jersey until 2021, when he moved to Pennsylvania to seek a U.S. Senate seat. He remains on New Jersey's voter rolls as a resident of Cliffside Park and could legally vote in his home state this November if he chose to not vote in Pennsylvania." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If the name David Wildstein sounds familiar to you, it should. Think, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

~~~~~~~~~~

** Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Thursday rejected the Justice Department's request to resume a key part of its inquiry into ... Donald J. Trump's handling of sensitive government records and appointed an outside arbiter to review thousands of documents seized last month from his Florida residence. The judge, Aileen M. Cannon, declined to lift any part of an order she issued last week that barred the department from using the documents, including about 100 marked classified, in its investigation until the arbiter, known as a special master, had completed a review. In her 10-page decision, Judge Cannon appointed a special master suggested by the Trump legal team and agreed upon by the government: Raymond J. Dearie, a semiretired judge from the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York.... But as part of her order, Judge Cannon permitted the government to continue using the documents for a national security risk assessment and a classification review.... The move was a blow to the Justice Department, almost certain to significantly delay its investigation into whether the former president unlawfully retained national defense records or obstructed repeated attempts by federal officials to retrieve them.... The department is now planning to appeal the decision, and top officials were meeting to discuss the timing of their filing, according to a senior law enforcement official." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Not mentioned in the NYT article: Cannon has also ordered that Trump & his lawyers could have access to all of the classified documents under review. As Barbara McQuade pointed out on MSNBC, that means that people without classified clearance -- including Donald Trump -- would be able to review documents that under any other circumstances, they could not view and potentially compromise. She noted that Trump could choose any lawyers he wanted, including, say, Rudy Giuliani. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In her opinion, Cannon responded to criticism that she had put too much emphasis on Trump's status as a former president* who could suffer "reputational harm" if the DOJ indicted him, by noting that "the principles of equity require the court to consider the specific context at issue, and that consideration is inherently impacted by the position formerly held" by Trump. Andrew Weissmann noted on MSNBC that Cannon came right out & said that the position that a litigant held gives him extra weight in any dispute. This, Weissmann notes, is an abuse of the U.S. legal system & the rule of law that everyone receives equal treatment. Ben Rhodes, also on MSNBC, noted that "There are two systems of laws: one for Donald Trump and one for everyone else." Trump & Cannon are playing right out of the authoritarian playbook, Rhodes said, in which a politician appoints judges to rule in his favor. Cannon's "main qualification is that she would be a rubber-stamp for Donald Trump," Rhodes said.

     ~~~ Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "... Cannon refused to accept department officials' contention that the records they are trying to review as part of an ongoing criminal investigation remain highly classified or contain extraordinarily sensitive defense information that could damage national security if released.... In a signed filing released by the court on Thursday night, [Judge Raymond] Dearie accepted the [special master] task. Cannon urged him to complete his review by Nov. 30 -- more than a month after the Oct. 17 deadline the Justice Department had most recently asked Cannon to set. While Cannon's timeline appears to extend Dearie's review well past the November midterm elections, she did instruct him 'to prioritize review of the approximately 100 documents marked as classified (and papers physically attached thereto).'... The judge also emphasized that she was giving Justice Department personnel some leeway to participate in the national security assessment even as she maintains her order blocking the use of any of the documents in the criminal probe.... In one nod to the Justice Department, Cannon ordered Trump to shoulder the full cost of Dearie's review, as well as that for any staff or associates he hires." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Cannon's refusal to accept that the documents the DOJ asked to except from her order were classified or "highly classified" is a fairly amazing "alternative-fact" take. It may be true that some of the documents are not as sensitive as the government contends -- perhaps they're nothing but John Podesta's tips for creamy risotto -- but they are clearly classified. (BTW, I make risotto the way Podesta makes risotto [although I usually make it with porcini], and that's the way to do it.) Just look at the photo of the jackets. Also, so unfa-a-a-ir Trump has to spend his own money on a special master, attorneys, etc. Oh, wait ~~~

     ~~~ Betsy Swan of Politico: "Donald Trump's outside spending arm has paid $3 million to cover attorney Chris Kise's legal work representing the former president, according to three people familiar with the arrangement.... Kise is representing the former president on both the Justice Department's probe of the Jan. 6 attack and on the investigation of the sensitive documents Trump brought with him to Mar-a-Lago after his presidency ended.... Kise left the firm Foley and Lardner and set up his own firm, Chris Kise & Associates, in order to take Trump as a client.... Save America itself is facing scrutiny from the Justice Department. Last week, numerous grand jury subpoenas asked people in Trump world about the PAC's fundraising and spending activities.... In the [House January 6] panel's second public hearing, as NPR detailed, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) noted that Trump urged donors to support an 'Official Election Defense Fund.' She said the committee learned that the fund did not exist, and that instead much of the money Trump raised in the wake of the election went to Save America.... [Lofgren said,] 'So not only was there the Big Lie, there was the Big Rip-off.'"

Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump warned that if he were indicted on a charge of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House, there would be 'problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we've never seen before.' Trump, speaking Thursday to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, added, 'I don't think the people of the United States would stand for it.'... Trump's comments Thursday came hours before officials from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security briefed Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee about threats against federal officials. After the briefing, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the committee's chairman, described Trump's rhetoric as dangerous." Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So what we have here is (1) a Trump-appointed judge expressing great skepticism about the DOJ's integrity and asserting that Donald Trump is above the law & would unfairly suffer "reputational harm" if he were indicted, and (2) Donald Trump himself promising some sort of massive rebellion against the government if he is indicted. This looks less like a normal legal dispute than a conspiracy to undermine the federal government & foment revolution unless the DOJ backs off its investigations. P.S. Don't know why the WashPo & Politico overlooked this part of Trump's interview with Hewitt: ~~~

     ~~~ The Magic Wand. Tierney Sneed of CNN: "... Donald Trump claimed on Hugh Hewitt's radio show Thursday that he declassified the government records that were taken to Mar-a-Lago -- an assertion that his attorneys have avoided making in the litigation around the FBI's seizure of the materials. Hewitt asked Trump about an account given by his former White House aide Kash Patel that Patel witnessed Trump's giving a verbal order to declassify the documents taken to Mar-a-Lago. (Patel, in an interview with Breitbart, said the materials Trump declassified had to do with the Russia probe, the Ukraine impeachment proceedings and 'major national security matters of great public importance.') 'That's correct,' Trump said. 'And not only that, I think it was other people also were there. But I have the absolute right to declassify, absolute -- a president has that absolute right, and a lot of people aren't even challenging that anymore.' Trump added later in the interview that 'everything was declassified.' In a court filing earlier this week, the Justice Department drilled down on the absence of any such assertion from Trump's legal team in court, while also arguing to the court that, even if he did declassify the materials, it would still be irrelevant to the legal dispute over the search." MB: Uh, apparently Trump's own lawyers are "questioning that." Keep talking, Donald; with any luck, the DOJ is taking notes.

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Dozens of subpoenas issued last week show that the Justice Department is seeking vast amounts of information, and communications with more than 100 people, as part of its sprawling inquiry into the origins, fundraising and motives of the effort to block Joe Biden from being certified as president in early 2021. The subpoenas, three of which were reviewed by The Washington Post, are far-reaching, covering 18 separate categories of information.... Taken together, the subpoenas show an investigation that began immediately after the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and has cast an ever-widening net, even as it gathers information about those in the former president's inner circle. 'It looks like a multipronged fraud and obstruction investigation,' said Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor.... Trump's team is arranging lawyers for at least some of the aides under subpoena, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation. Trump himself has not received a subpoena, according to a person close to him, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter." ~~~

~~~ Meredith McGraw & Jonathan Lemire of Politico: Donald "Trump's allies and aides have been left angry and a bit shaken this week over the Department of Justice's issuance of some 40 subpoenas targeting people in Trump's inner orbit over their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and their connections to events on Jan. 6. Cell phones were confiscated from at least four people. A few trusted text chains among Trump vets were ignited with speculation about shoes soon to drop, while others went quiet. 'Every day feels like something else is piling on,' said one former Trump official. Gone, for most in Trump World, was the bravado that this probe too would pass and that the 45th president would emerge stronger. Instead, there was growing anxiety about what could be next, as well as fears that those in the inner circle may flip on their friends to save themselves."

Zachary Cohen, et al., of CNN: "The Justice Department is seeking information about at least seven people in connection with a breach of a Colorado county's voting system as part of efforts to subvert the 2020 election results, according to subpoena documents obtained by CNN that reveal new details about the breadth of the investigation. The subpoena issued to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell earlier this week lists the names of people considered 'subjects' in the investigation -- including people involved in efforts to seize voting machine data in several states as ... Donald Trump and his allies tried to overturn his electoral loss. Lindell has not been charged with any crimes or wrongdoing."

McKenna Oxenden of the New York Times: "A Virginia man who wore a sweatshirt with the words 'Camp Auschwitz' across his chest as he breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced on Thursday to 75 days in prison, officials said. Robert Keith Packer, 57, of Newport News, was arrested about a week after the insurrection and pleaded guilty in January to one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol building. In addition to his prison time, which aligned with what prosecutors had requested, Mr. Packer must pay $500 in restitution. Judge Carl J. Nichols of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia said during a virtual court hearing that although there was no evidence that Mr. Packer had used violence against officers, his sweatshirt was 'incredibly offensive,' according to NBC News. The judge also said he felt that Mr. Packer's apology was lacking, compared with those of other defendants who were charged in the riot." Politico's report is here.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden convened a summit meeting at the White House on Thursday to denounce white supremacy and other forms of bias, calling on Americans to speak out against prejudice and taking a veiled swipe at former President Donald J. Trump for in his view countenancing hate-fueled violence.... While Mr. Biden did not mention Mr. Trump by name, he derided his predecessor's response to the Charlottesville violence. 'When the last guy was asked what did he think, he said he thought there were some fine people on both sides,' Mr. Biden said."

Josh Boak & Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden announced Thursday that a tentative railway labor agreement has been reached, averting a nationwide strike that could have been devastating to the economy before the pivotal midterm elections.... The president brought business and union leaders to the Oval Office on Thursday morning, then hailed the deal in remarks in the White House Rose Garden. 'This agreement is validation of what I've always believed, unions and management can work together -- can work together -- for the benefit of everyone,' Biden declared." (This is an update of a story linked early yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post describe how President Biden, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg & Labor Secretary Marty Walsh engaged in the negotiations to avert an impending rail strike. "Four decades after President Ronald Reagan fired thousands of striking air traffic controllers, Biden took a markedly different tack, often defending the workers' demands in private discussions."

Republicans Afraid to Guarantee Same-Sex Marriage Rights. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Senate Democrats decided on Thursday to postpone a planned vote on legislation to provide federal protections for same-sex marriage until after the midterm elections in November, amid dimming hopes of drawing enough Republican support to ensure its passage with tight races on the line. Senator Tammy Baldwin, Democrat of Wisconsin and the lead sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, said that delaying action would increase the chance of getting the 10 Republican votes needed to push it through the evenly divided Senate, where 60 would be necessary to move it forward. The decision to do so came as a relief to Republicans, the vast majority of whom oppose the measure and were worried that voting against it so close to the elections would alienate voters."

Mariana Alfaro & Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) appeared to kick an unarmed demonstrator during a confrontation outside the Capitol on Thursday afternoon. Videos posted to Twitter by Greene and the Gen Z activist group Voters of Tomorrow show Greene leaving a news conference while being questioned by activists about gun violence. As Greene approaches a crosswalk, she appears to kick one of the activists, who was walking in front of her.... 'Excuse me,' Greene says while at first appearing to step on demonstrator Marianna Pecora's foot. 'Excuse me,' Greene says again, this time after appearing to intentionally draw back her foot and aim for Pecora's leg. 'Oh my God,' Pecora, 18, is seen saying in the videos. 'You can't block members of Congress,' Greene's communications director, Nick Dyer, told Pecora, even though Greene was engaging her in conversation." Includes video.

I thought I was coming to Boston. I ended up on this little island. -- Ardenis Nazareth, a migrant from Venezuela, dumped on Martha's Vineyard ~~~

~~~ Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, et al., of the Washington Post: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday defended flying migrants from Texas to a Massachusetts resort island unprepared to receive them.... In interviews with The Washington Post on Thursday, several migrants who had recently crossed the southern border said they boarded the planes after a woman approached them in San Antonio, offering work and a place to stay. They said they did not know they were headed for Martha's Vineyard -- a tiny island where wealthy vacationers spend the summer months -- and believed instead that they were going to large cities. Authorities in Massachusetts said they received no heads-up and scrambled to help. Two charter flights took dozens of migrants from San Antonio to the island on Wednesday afternoon, making stops in Florida and other states along the way, according to local officials on Martha;s Vineyard.... Democratic leaders denounced DeSantis's move Thursday, with Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) calling on the Justice Department to investigate." A New York Times story is here. A second, related, New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ Marie: Former HUD Secretary [& Joaquin's twin brother] Julián Castro also has called on the Department of Justice to investigate Republican governors dumping immigrants in blue states. Castro agrees with me that these governors are engaging in human trafficking for their own political gain. Castro appeared on MSNBC to discuss his concerns. No link.

     ~~~ P.S. If Ron DeSantis & Greg Abbott were hoping their crimes against humanity would prove that liberals don't care about immigrants any more than the governors do, they've been disappointed. People on the Vineyard, Massachusetts authorities & Washington, D.C., charitable groups rushed to the aid of the immigrants the governors dumped in Martha's Vineyard & near the Naval Observatory in D.C., despite the fact that DeSantis & Abbott dropped off the immigrants without warning (well, except to Fox "News").

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Priscilla Alvarez, et al., of CNN: "Two buses carrying migrants arrived Thursday at the US Naval Observatory -- the vice president's residence in Washington, DC -- from Texas, surprising volunteers who were not prepared to receive them there, volunteers in the district said. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been busing migrants to the nation's capital to protest the Biden administration's immigration policies, said Thursday in a tweet that his state intentionally sent the buses to Vice President Kamala Harris' residence.... Thursday's passengers included families and young men. Around 70% to 80% of the migrants are from Venezuela, according to volunteers. They had a few belongings in trash bags and some documents.... SAMU First Response, one of the groups helping migrants in Washington, was not provided a heads up, according to the group's managing director, Tatiana Laborde." A photo accompanying the story shows migrants left sitting on the sidewalk outside the Observatory. MB: Republican cruelty knows no bounds. P.S. Vote Beto! (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Friday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Friday are here: "A mass grave discovered by Ukrainian authorities in the recently liberated city of Izyum appears to be the lates atrocity left by retreating Russian troops, adding to apparent war crimes in Bucha and Mariupol. Officials are expected to announce more details Friday on the burial site, which reports indicated could contain hundreds of bodies.... A top police official for the Kharkiv region told Sky News that more than 400 bodies were discovered at the burial site.... Also on Friday, President Biden is expected to meet with family members of two U.S. citizens held in Russia, WNBA player Brittney Griner and security consultant Paul Whelan. The United States considers them wrongfully detained though the White House indicated that negotiations on their release had not advanced.... The International Atomic Energy Agency called on Russia to 'immediately cease all actions against, and at'the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in a resolution passed by its Board of Governors on Thursday. Twenty-six countries voted in favor, while only Russia and China opposed it, according to Reuters."

Anton Troianovski & Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: "... Vladimir V. Putin acknowledged on Thursday that China had 'questions and concerns' about Russia's war in Ukraine, a notable, if cryptic, admission that Moscow lacks the full backing of its biggest, most powerful partner on the world stage. Mr. Putin met China's leader, Xi Jinping, on Thursday in their first in-person meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine, and as Mr. Xi traveled abroad for the first time since the start of the pandemic. But rather than put on a show of Eurasian unity against the West as Russia struggled to recover from last week's humiliating military retreat in northeastern Ukraine, the two leaders struck discordant notes in their public remarks -- and Mr. Xi made no mention of Ukraine at all.... It was a moment, on the sidelines of a regional summit in Uzbekistan, that showed the daunting political straits Mr. Putin finds himself in nearly seven months into his invasion of Ukraine.... The Russian president on Thursday saw Mr. Xi -- who had pledged a friendship with 'no limits' just three weeks before Russia invaded -- conspicuously withhold any public support for Mr. Putin's war." MB: Apparently Xi doesn't like a loser.

Siobhán O'Grady & Anastacia Galouchka of the Washington Post: "About 10 days before Ukrainian forces retook the city of Izyum last weekend, Russian troops stationed here were so demoralized that they drafted letters begging their superiors to dismiss them from their roles. The 10 handwritten letters, dated Aug. 30, were left behind in a two-story residential house where Russians were squatting and later found by Ukrainian soldiers who provided the letters to The Washington Post for review. They paint a portrait of dejected troops desperate for rest and concerned about their health and morale after months of fighting."

Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "To address Russia's shortage of soldiers to send to war in Ukraine, the Wagner mercenary group seems to be making an offer that it hopes convicted criminals can't refuse: a get out of jail card. 'After six months [at war] you receive a pardon, and there is no option for you to return to prison,' a man dressed in tan-colored fatigues said, addressing a crowd of Russian inmates.... 'Those who arrive [at the front line] and say on Day 1 it's not for them get shot,' the man added. The recording pitch, captured on video, surfaced Monday night on Russian Telegram channels, and the man in fatigues making the offer appears to be Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the billionaire nicknamed 'Putin's chef' who is also the reputed financier of the Wagner private military company.... Russia's shortage of reinforcements was apparently part of the reason Moscow's troops were unprepared for a Ukrainian counteroffensive in recent days that ousted Russian occupying fosters from most of the northeast Kharkiv region." Putin is afraid to impose a military draft, "a move [which] would be politically toxic."

U.K. The Guardian's live updates of events & developments related to memorials to Queen Elizabeth II are here.